ROCKFORD - Law enforcement and political leaders this week will announce an agreement formalizing a Winnebago County Violent Crimes Task Force targeting the Rockford region's most violent criminals.

Winnebago County, Rockford, the Illinois State Police and Loves Park are teaming up to contribute full-time detectives to an investigative arm of the Task Force focused primarily on gangsters, career criminals and active shooters. The agencies are also contributing police officers for periodic street crime enforcement details focused on high crime neighborhoods.

Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen said the task force began its work informally in July and has met with some successes already.

"This task force already has some wins," Christiansen said.

Leaders of the law enforcement agencies on Monday shared a preview of an expected announcement with the Rockford Register Star Editorial Board.

The task force will include two detectives each from Winnebago County and Rockford plus one each from Loves Park and State Police under the direction of Winnebago County Deputy Chief Dominic Iasparro.

The Task Force will coordinate with the Winnebago County State's Attorney's Office in addition to state and federal law enforcement agencies. It will also utilize crime mapping to identify hot spots where saturated police patrols can drive down violent crime, Rockford Police Chief Chet Epperson said.

Mayor Larry Morrissey said local law enforcement works together and with state and federal agencies on a daily basis, but that work often is not noted by the public. The public roll-out is a way to highlight how the Task Force is targeting those believed responsible for violent crime in the region, Morrissey said.

"Coordinating who we target and identifying who is a high profile target just because they are dangerous, not because they are the head of (a gang) but because they are dangerous," Morrissey said.

The written agreement includes provisions to report to elected officials and the public on a quarterly basis.

City and county leaders stressed that law enforcement has always worked hand-in-hand on the street level. The task force puts that work in writing and spells out responsibilities of each local department.

Iasparro said the Task Force is already making an impact by taking career criminals off the street.

"There's less shootings taking place today than there were two months ago because of some of these people that were taken off the streets," Iasparro said.

The group hasn't set benchmarks - statistical or otherwise - for how it should measure its own success.

Loves Park Chief of Police Jim Puckett said making quality arrests of the areas most problematic criminals will improve public safety and will be the focus over statistical benchmarks.

State's Attorney Joe Bruscato said the task force will know it has been successful when the community begins to feel safer.

Page 2 of 2 - Christiansen agreed and said residents used to call for more jobs above any other issue.

"The last couple years it's been feeling safe, 'we don't feel safe,'" Christiansen said. "Some of that may be perception, but we have to fix it."